SAN BERNARDINO >> A heated online argument between Mayor Carey Davis’ chief of staff and a former elected official raised questions in the mind of some about the appropriateness of the staffer’s behavior, while others said it was a reasonable response to a political opponent’s intentional provocation.

Former San Bernardino councilman and county supervisor Neil Derry, who is now senior vice president of public affairs at Desmond & Louis Public Relations in Yucaipa, posted a series of private messages between himself and Davis chief of staff Michael McKinney to a local political blog and to Facebook on Sunday.

“You’re mouthing off making an accusation about a conflict without any proof,” McKinney said in one message. “Which is a accusation of a felony that is libel. Now if you’d like to relive that money-laundering charge online ‘buddy’ I would remember your house isn’t exactly clean. I just have the common decency to not be a dirt-bag (expletive).”

The confrontation came after Derry questioned whether McKinney has a conflict of interest because he works as Davis’ chief of staff while remaining president of the public relations firm MICA-PR.

Derry and others have been asking that question — despite McKinney’s statements that his attorneys looked into any possible conflict and found none — since before the April 21 vote to appoint him, which passed over the objections of Councilman Fred Shorett.

It’s question, not a threat, Derry said by phone Monday, and McKinney’s response to it is troubling.

“I just want people to understand that Mr. McKinney flat-out threatened me,” he said. “He knows I do business in the city. … If this is the way the mayor’s chief of staff is going to react in private with constituents, I would have a great deal of concern.”

The two continued their discussion in online comments Sunday and Monday, and McKinney didn’t back off when reached by phone.

“The bottom line here is that Mr. Derry is trying to be relevant, and he’s not,” McKinney said. “It’s part of an old guard that is itself scandal-ridden and quite frankly does not need to be involved in the city’s rebuilding.”

Asked whether the tone of his comments was consistent with Davis’ message — he campaigned in part on an end to “toxic politics” — McKinney said it was Derry’s choice to post private comments and that his “question” was in fact an accusation.

“He is mincing words to be a toxic low-life, which is exactly the kind of politician he was,” McKinney said. “And I make no bones about it.”

Derry pleaded guilty to failing to report a $5,000 campaign donation, a misdemeanor, in exchange for prosecutors dropping two felony charges. A judge dismissed the conviction in 2011.

Online comments continued to be splintered over the comments on Monday.

“I am certainly tired of the rhetoric surrounding the new mayor and COS (chief of staff),” said Stephani Congdon. “It seems the old guard cannot let go of the old do nothing ways. Many of you initiate criticisms that one might consider inflammatory and then expect people not to defend themselves.”

And attorney Tim Prince, who has often disagreed with Derry on political questions, criticized past actions by McKinney and agreed with Derry’s criticism.

“Now he has more temper tantrums and uses foul language to a former County Supervisor and City Councilman in his first month in office,” Prince wrote. “He can’t act like a public servant or chief of staff and has demonstrated himself unworthy of public service.”

Ryan Hagen covers the city of Riverside for the Southern California Newspaper Group. Since he began covering Inland Empire governments in 2010, he's written about a city entering bankruptcy and exiting bankruptcy; politicians being elected, recalled and arrested; crime; a terrorist attack; fires; ICE; fights to end homelessness; fights over the location of speed bumps; and people's best and worst moments. His greatest accomplishment is breaking a coffee addiction. His greatest regret is any moment without coffee.

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